Prion-specific polyclonal antibodies

ABSTRACT

Synthetic polypeptides having at least one antigenic site of a prior protein, methods for their use and manufacture, antibodies raised against such polypeptides and diagnostic kits containing these polypeptides or antibodies.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 09/076,721 filed May 13, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,379,905 which is a divisional of Ser. No. 08/244,701 filed Jun. 2, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,773,572 issued Jun. 30, 1998, which is a §371 of PCT/GB92/02246 filed Dec. 3, 1992.

The present invention relates to synthetic polypeptides. In particular it relates to synthetic polypeptides which emulate the three-dimensional structures and/or electrostatic surfaces and/or other physical, chemical and structural properties of specific regions of proteins thought to be involved in the molecular pathology of spongiform encephalopathies. It is of particular interest to the design of immunodiagnostics, vaccines and other medical, veterinary or scientific agents in relation to human, bovine and ovine spongiform encephalopathies.

Spongiform encephalopathies are a group of degenerative neurological diseases. Examples have been found in a number of species including sheep (where it is known as scrapie), cows (BSE) and humans (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and kuru) (Review article, Taylor, D. M. Veterinary Record 125, 413-415 (1989)). Similar conditions have also been found in the wild mink population and in captive kudus (a kind of antelope) and tigers. It has been variously reported that BSE can be transmitted under laboratory conditions to mice and pigs. This crossing of species barriers by the infective agent has led to increased concern that transfer to humans could occur.

These diseases are characterized by a slow incubation time of four to five years after which the clinical symptoms of progressive degeneration of mental state, including aggressiveness and lack of coordination, appear. Post mortems reveal a characteristic pattern of vacuolation in brain tissue due to the destruction of neural cells, and the deposition of unusual protein fibers.

Although the form of the disease found in sheep (scrapie) has been known for many years, spongiform encephalopathies have come to prominence within the last decade following the appearance of BSE in cattle farms. The incidence of BSE in the United Kingdom has increased markedly during this period and public concern over the possible transmission of the disease to humans has led to a collapse in the beef market. Thus for both veterinary and economic reasons, there is an urgent need for diagnostic agents to detect infection and for vaccines to prevent infection.

It is believed that the causative agent of scrapie and its counterparts in other animals is a so-called “prion”, that is an infective particle comprising protein only and no nucleic acid, the presence of the latter being required in the case of a conventional virus. In scrapie, one particular protein (termed prion protein, PrP^(SC)) has been found to co-purify with infectivity and can produce a scrapie-like condition in brain cell cultures from other animals, such as hamsters, under laboratory conditions. PrP^(SC) is the only known component of the characteristic protein fibers deposited in the brain tissue of scrapie-infected sheep. The term “PrP^(SC)” as used herein should be taken to refer not only to the specific Prion protein identified in sheep but also to those homologous proteins found in many other species which appear to undergo a structural modification as described hereinafter. The term PrP^(C) “shall be used in respect of the normal cellular counterpart to PrP^(SC).

The major problem in the search for a specific diagnostic agent or synthetic vaccine against the scrapie agent PrP^(SC) is that it is almost identical to the natural form of the protein PrP^(C). The natural function of this protein is not yet understood but the remarkably strong conservation of primary structure between homologous proteins from different species suggests that it has an essential structural or functional role within the organism.

In spite of the almost identical form of these prions to the natural proteins, we have deduced synthetic peptide structures comprising at least one antigenic property, such as an epitopic site and these synthetic peptides may be used to produce diagnostic agents and vaccines.

The responses of the B and T cells of the immune system are not specified by a global recognition of a whole protein but rather by recognition of a small region of the protein surface known as epitopic site. Such sites may be formed by a continuous section of peptide chain or may be discontinuous, where separated sections of peptide chain are brought together at the protein surface due to folding of the chain. One aim in producing a synthetic peptide vaccine is to mimic the structure of a particular epitope and thereby cause a primary immune response leading to the production of memory B cells which will secrete antibodies on subsequent exposure to the parent protein so producing a greatly enhanced response to secondary infection. A similar mechanism via priming of the cytotoxic T cells to respond more vigorously to a particular antigen will also occur.

However, problems exist with the application of traditional methods of vaccine production to this disease as it is believed that the molecular structure of the protein prion rather than nucleic acid sequence passes on infectivity in the prion. The usual method of viral vaccine production involves the inactivation of the virus in some way to destroy infectivity while preserving epitopic sites. Such techniques as heat treatment or serial passaging of the virus through a culture are used, but these approaches would not lead to a loss of infectivity of a prion unless conditions were such as to cause protein denaturation. If the conditions are severe enough to inactivate the prion protein then denaturation of the protein occurs and any epitopic sites are lost. Thus there is a major problem in trying to obtain antigenic but non-infective prion proteins by conventional routes. It is known, for example, that the scrapie agent in sheep is particularly resistant to chemical or physical inactivation (Hodgson, J. Bio/Technology 8 990 (1990)).

In one aspect our invention provides a synthetic polypeptide having at least one antigenic site of a prion protein. Preferably the prion protein is of a form which only exists in nervous tissue of a mammal suffering from spongiform encephalopathy.

We have found that prion proteins of the type mentioned above comprise six regions of interest, labeled A to F, and two related frame shift peptide sequences, viz:1) a repeating section in region E having undergone a nucleic acid coding sequence frame shift of +1 (FSa) and 2) the repeating section in region E having undergone a nucleic acid coding sequence frame shift of −1 (FSb).

With regard to region A, our invention provides a synthetic peptide sequence according to general formula (I):

Seq. I.D. No: 52 (I) X-(R₁-Lys-His-R₂)-Ala-Gly-Ala-Ala-Ala-R₃-Gly-Ala- Val-Val-Gly-Gly-Leu-Gly-Gly-Tyr-Met-Leu-Gly-Ser- Ala-Met-Ser-(Arg-Pro-R₄-R₅)-Y wherein R₁ is an amino acid residue selected from Met, Leu and Phe;

-   -   R₂ is either Met or Val;     -   R₃ is Ala or is absent;     -   R₄ and R₅ are independently an amino acid residue selected from         Leu, Ile and Met; one or more residues within brackets may be         present or absent with the proviso that if they are present they         are attached to the rest of the peptide in sequence; and X and Y         may each independently be absent or independently be one or more         additional amino acid residues.

It will be apparent for example that the residues at the N-terminal of the sequence may be present as “R₂”- or “His-R₂-,” or “Lys-His-R₂-” or “R₁-Lys-His-R₂-.” Similarly, the preferable residues at the C-terminal may be present as “-Arg”, or “-Arg-Pro,” or “-Arg-Pro-R₄,” or “-Arg-Pro-R₂-R₅.”

Preferably, R₁, if present, is Met, R₃, is Ala and R₅, if present, is Ile. Also, if R₄ is Met then R₄, if present, is Ile. Below are preferred sequences (Seq. I.D. No: 1 and Seq. I.D. No: 2) of formula I relating to bovine and ovine and to human prion proteins respectively:

Seq. I.D. No: 1 X-(Met-Lys-His-Val)-Ala-Gly-Ala-Ala-Ala-Ala-Gly- Ala-Val-Val-Gly-Gly-Leu-Gly-Gly-Tyr-Met-Leu-Gly- Ser-Ala-Met-Ser-(Arg-Pro-Leu-Ile)-Y; and Seq. I.D. No: 2 X-(Met-Lys-His-Met)-Ala-Gly-Ala-Ala-Ala-Ala-Gly- Ala-Val-Val-Gly-Gly-Leu-Gly-Gly-Tyr-Met-Leu-Gly- Ser-Ala-Met-Ser-(Arg-Pro-Ile-Ile)-Y.

A particularly preferred sequence according to formula I is Seq. I.D. No: 51:

Lys-His-Met-Ala-Gly-Ala-Ala-Ala-Ala-Gly-Ala-Val- Val-Gly-Gly-Leu-Gly-Gly-Tyr-Met-Leu-Gly-Ser-Ala- Met-Ser-Arg-Gly-Cys.

Naturally, our invention encompasses significant sub-fragments of the sequence according to formula I above and preferred sub-fragments are:

Seq. I.D. No: 63 i) X-(His-R₂-Ala-Gly)-Ala-Ala-Ala-R₃-Gly-Ala-Val- Val-(Gly-Gly-Leu-Gly)-Y and; Seq. I.D. No: 64 ii) X-(Gly-Gly-Leu-Gly)-Gly-Tyr-Met-Leu-Gly-Ser- Ala-Met-Ser-(Arg-Pro-R₄-R₅)-Y wherein R₂, R₃, R₄, R₅, X and Y are as defined for formula I and one or more residues in brackets may be absent or present as in formula I.

It will be clear from the foregoing that preferred sub-fragments relating to both bovines and ovines are

Seq. I.D. No: 3 i) X-(His-Val-Ala-Gly)-Ala-Ala-Ala-Ala-Gly-Ala- Val-Val-Gly-(Gly-Leu-Gly-Gly-Y; and Seq. I.D. No. 4 ii) (Gly-Gly-Leu-Gly)-Gly-Tyr-Met-Leu-Gly-Ser-Ala- Met-Ser-(Arg-Pro-Leu-Ile)-Y.

Similarly, preferred sub-fragments for humans are:

Seq. I.D. No: 5 i) X-(His-Met-Ala-Gly)-Ala-Ala-Ala-Ala-Gly-Ala- Val-Val-Gly-(Gly-Leu-Gly-Gly)-Y; and Seq. I.D. No: 6 ii) X-(Gly-Gly-Leu-Gly)-Gly-Tyr-Met-Leu-Gly-Ser- Ala-Met-Ser-(Arg-Pro-Ile-Ile)-Y.

With regard to region B, our invention provides a synthetic peptide sequence according to general formula II:

Seq. I.D. No: 53 (II) X-(Ser-Ala-Met-Ser)-Arg-Pro-R₄-R₅-His-Phe-Gly-R₆- Asp-R₇-Glu-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Tyr-Arg-Glu-Asn-Met-R₈-Arg- (Tyr-Pro-Asn-Gln)-Y wherein R₄ and R₅ are the same as in formula I;

-   -   R₆ is either Asn or Ser;     -   R₇ is either Tyr or Trp;     -   R₈ is an amino acid residue selected from His, Tyr and Asn;         one or more residues within brackets may be present or absent         with the proviso that if they are present they are attached to         the rest of the peptide in sequence; and X and Y may each         independently be absent or independently be one or more         additional amino acid residues.

Preferably in a sequence according to formula II, R₅ is Ile, R₇ is Tyr and R₈ is His or Tyr. Below are preferred sequences of formula II relating to bovine, ovine and human prion proteins respectively:

Seq. I.D. No: 7 X-(Ser-Ala-Met-Ser)-Arg-Pro-Leu-Ile-His-Phe-Gly- Ser-Asp-Tyr-Glu-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Tyr-Arg-Glu-Asn-Met- His-Arg-(Tyr-Pro-Asn-Gln)-Y; Seq. I.D. No: 8 X-(Ser-Ala-Met-Ser)-Arg-Pro-Leu-Ile-His-Phe-Gly- Asn-Asp-Tyr-Glu-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Tyr-Arg-Glu-Asn-Met- Tyr-Arg-(Tyr-Pro-Asn-Gln-Y; and Seq. I.D. No: 9 X-(Ser-Ala-Met-Ser)-Arg-Pro-Ile-Ile-His-Phe-Gly- Ser-Asp-Tyr-Glu-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Tyr-Arg-Glu-Asn-Met- His-Arg-(Tyr-Pro-Asn-Gln)-Y.

Particularly preferred sequences are selected from Seq. I. D. No: 42

Ser-Ala-Met-Ser-Arg-Pro-Leu-Ile-His-Phe-Gly-Asn- Asp-Tyr-Glu-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Tyr-Gly-Cys; and Seq. I.D. No: 43 Ser-Ala-Met-Ser-Arg-Pro-Leu-Ile-His-Phe-Gly-Ser- Asp-Tyr-Glu-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Tyr-Gly-Cys.

Again it will be apparent that our invention encompasses significant sub-fragments of the sequence according to Formula II and a preferred general sub-fragment has the sequence:

Seq. I.D. No: 65 X-(Ser-Ala-Met-Ser)-Arg-Pro-R₄-R₅-His-Phe-Gly-R₆- Asp-R₇-Glu-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Tyr-(Arg-Glu-Asn-Met)-Y

-   -   R₄ to R₇, X and Y are as defined in formula II and one or more         residues in brackets may be present or absent. Preferably, R₅ is         Ile and R₇ is Tyr. It will be appreciated that preferred         sub-fragments relating to bovines, ovines and humans are         respectively;

Seq. I.D. No: 10 X-(Ser-Ala-Met-Ser)-Arg-Pro-Leu-Ile-His-Phe-Gly- Ser-Asp-Tyr-Glu-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Tyr-(Arg-Glu-Asn- Met)-Y; Seq. I.D. No: 11 X-(Ser-Ala-Met-Ser)-Arg-Pro-Leu-Ile-His-Phe-Gly- Asn-Asp-Tyr-Glu-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Tyr-(Arg-Glu-Asn- Met)-Y; and Seq. I.D. No: 12 X-(Ser-Ala-Met-Ser)-Arg-Pro-Ile-Ile-His-Phe- Gly-Ser-Asp-Tyr-Glu-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Tyr-(Arg- Glu-Asn-Met)-Y.

Our invention provides in respect of region C a synthetic peptide sequence according to general formula III:

Seq. I.D. No: 54 X-(Asn-Met-R₈-Arg)-Tyr-Pro-Asn-Gln-Val-Tyr- Tyr-Arg-Pro-R₉-Asp-R₁₀-Tyr-R₁₁-Asn-Gln-Asn- Asn-Phe-Val-His-(Asp-Cys-Val-Asn)-Y wherein R₈ is an amino acid residue selected from His, Tyr and Asn;

-   -   R₉ is Val or Met;     -   R₁₀ is an amino acid residue selected from Gln, Glu and Arg;     -   R₁₁ is Ser or Asn; one or more residues within brackets may be         present or absent with the proviso that if they are present they         are attached to the rest of the peptide in sequence and X and Y         may each independently be absent or independently be one or more         additional amino acid residues.

Preferably in a sequence according to formula III, R₈ is His or Tyr and R₁₁ is Ser. Below are preferred sequences of formula III relating to bovine, ovine and human prion proteins respectively:

Seq. I.D. No: 13 X-(Asn-Met-His-Arg)-Tyr-Pro-Asn-Gln-Val-Tyr-Tyr- Arg-Pro-Val-Asp-Gln-Tyr-Ser-Asn-Gln-Asn-Asn-Phe- Val-His-(Asp-Cys-Val-Asn)-Y; Seq. I.D. No: 14 X-(Asn-Met-Tyr-Arg)-Tyr-Pro-Asn-Gln-Val-Tyr- Tyr-Arg-Pro-Val-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Ser-Asn-Gln-Asn- Asn-Phe-Val-His-(Asp-Cys-Val-Asn)-Y; and Seq. I.D. No: 15 X-(Asn-Met-His-Arg)-Tyr-Pro-Asn-Gln-Val-Tyr- Tyr-Arg-Pro-Met-Asp-Glu-Tyr-Ser-Asn-Gln-Asn- Asn-Phe-Val-His-(Asp-Cys-Val-Asn)-Y.

Particularly preferred sequences are selected from Seq. I.D. No: 44

Asn-Met-Tyr-Arg-Tyr-Pro-Asn-Gln-Val-Tyr-Tyr-Arg- Pro-Val-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Ser-Asn-Gln-Asn-Asn-Phe-Val- His-Gly-Cys; and Seq. I.D. No: 45 Asn-Met-His-Arg-Tyr-Pro-Asn-Gln-Val-Tyr-Tyr-Arg- Pro-Val-Asp-Gln-Tyr-Ser-Asn-Gln-Asn-Asn-Phe-Val- His-Gly-Cys.

Significant sub-fragments of the sequence according to formula III form part of this invention and a preferred sub-fragment has the sequence:

Seq. I.D. No: 66 X-(Arg-Tyr-Pro-Asn)-Gln-Val-Tyr-Tyr-Arg-Pro- R₉-Asp-R₁₀-Tyr-R₁₁-Asn-Gln-Asn-Asn-Phe-Val- His-(Asp-Cys-Val-Asn)-Y.

Preferred sub-fragments relating to bovines, ovines and humans are respectively:

Seq. ID. No: 16 X-(Arg-Tyr-Pro-Asn)-Gln-Val-Tyr-Tyr-Arg-Pro-Val- Asp-Gln-Tyr-Ser-Asn-Gln-Asn-Asn-Phe-Val-His- (Asp-Cys-Val-Asn)-Y; Seq. I.D. No: 17 X-(Arg-Tyr-Pro-Asn)-Gln-Val-Tyr-Tyr-Arg-Pro-Val- Asp-Arg-Tyr-Ser-Asn-Gln-Asn-Asn-Phe-Val-His- (Asp-Cys-Val-Asn)-Y; and Seq. I.D. No: 18 X-(Arg-Tyr-Pro-Asn)-Gln-Val-Tyr-Tyr-Arg-Pro-Met- Asp-Glu-Tyr-Ser-Asn-Gln-Asn-Asn-Phe-Val-His- (Asp-Cys-Val-Asn)-Y.

In respect of region D, our invention provides a synthetic peptide sequence according to general formula IV:

Seq. I.D. No: 55 (IV) X-(Tyr-Tyr-R₁₂-R₁₃-Arg)-R₁₄-R₁₅-Ser-R₁₆-R₁₇- R₁₈-Leu-Phe-Ser-Ser-Pro-Pro-Val-Ile-Leu-Leu- IIe-Ser-Phe-Leu-Ile-Phe-Leu-R₁₉-Val-Gly-Y wherein R₁₂ is Asp or Gln;

-   -   R₁₃ is Gly or absent;     -   R₁₄ is Gly or Arg;     -   R₁₅ is Ala or Ser;     -   R₁₆ is Ser or absent;     -   R₁₇ is an amino acid residue selected from Ala, Thr, Met and         Val;     -   R₁₈ is Val or Ile;     -   R₁₉ is Ile or Met; one or more residues within brackets may be         present or absent with the proviso that if they are present they         are attached to the rest of the peptide in sequence and X and Y         may each independently be absent or independently be one or more         additional amino acid residues.

Preferably in a sequence according to formula IV R₁₂ is Gln, R₁₃ is absent, R₁₄ is Gly, R₁₆ is absent, R₁₇ is Val or Met and R₁₉ is Ile.

Preferred sequences of formula IV relating to bovine and ovine and to human prion proteins respectively are given below:

Seq. I.D. No: 19 X-(Tyr-Tyr-Gln-Arg)-Gly-Ala-Ser-Val-Ile-Leu-Phe- Ser-Ser-Pro-Pro-Val-Ile-Leu-Leu-Ile-Ser-Phe-Leu- Ile-Phe-Leu-Ile-Val-Gly-Y; and Seq. I.D. No: 20 X-(Tyr-Tyr-Gln-Arg)-Gly-Ser-Ser-Met-Val-Leu-Phe- Ser-Ser-Pro-Pro-Val-Ile-Leu-Leu-Ile-Ser-Phe-Leu- Ile-Phe-Leu-Ile-Val-Gly-Y.

Clearly, it will be recognized that the present invention includes with its ambit significant sub-fragments of the sequence according to formula IV and a preferred general sub-fragment has the sequence:

Seq. I.D. No: 67 X-(R₁₄-R₁₅-Ser-R₁₆-R₁₇)-R₁₈-Leu-Phe-Ser- Ser-Pro-Pro-Val-Ile-(Leu-Leu-Ile-Ser)-Y

Wherein R₁₄ to R₁₈, X and Y are as defined in formula IV and one or more residues within brackets may be present or absent as in formula IV.

It is preferred that in a sub-fragment as given above, R₁₄ is Gly, R₁₆ is absent and R₁₇ is Val or Met. Below are preferred sub-fragments relating to bovines and ovines and to humans respectively:

Seq. I.D. No: 21 X-(Gly-Ala-Ser-Val)-Ile-Leu-Phe-Ser-Ser-Pro-Pro- Val-Ile-(Leu-Leu-Ile-Ser)-Y; and Seq. I.D. No: 22 X-(Gly-Ser-Ser-Met)-Val-Leu-Phe-Ser-Ser-Pro-Pro- Val-Ile-(Leu-Leu-Ile-Ser)-Y.

Our invention provides in respect of Region E three synthetic polypeptide sequences according to general formulae Va, Vb and Vc:

Seq. I.D. No: 56 (Va); X-(Pro-Gly-Gly-R₂₀)-Trp-Asn-Thr-Gly-Gly-Ser-Arg- Tyr-Pro-Gly-Gln-Gly-Ser-Pro-Gly-Gly-Asn-Arg-Tyr- Pro-Pro-Gln-Gly-(Gly-R₂₁-R₂₂-Trp)-Y Seq. I.D. No: 57 (Vb) X-(Gly-Gly-R₂₁-R₂₂-Trp)-Gly-Gln-Pro-His-Gly-Gly- Gly-R₂₃-Trp (Gly-Gln-Pro-His)-Y; and Seq. I.D. No: 58 (Vc) X-(Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp)-Gly-Gln-Gly-Gly-R₂₄-R₂₅-His- R₂₆-Gln-Trp-Asn-Lys-Pro-R₂₇-Lys-Pro-Lys-Thr-R₂₈- R₂₉-Lys (-His-R₃₀-Ala-Gly)-Y

Wherein R₂₀, R₂₁, R₂₃ and R₂₄ are each independently either Gly or absent,

-   -   R₂₂ either Gly or Thr;     -   R₂₅ is either Thr or Ser;     -   R₂₆ is an amino acid residue selected from Gly, Ser and Asn;     -   R₂₇ and R₂₈ are each independently either Asn or Ser;     -   R₂₉ is an amino acid residue selected from Met, Leu and Phe;     -   R₃₀ is either Val or Met; one or more residues within brackets         may be present or absent with the proviso that if they are         present they are attached to the rest of the peptide in         sequence; and X and Y may each independently be absent or         independently be one or more additional amino acid residues.

With regard to formulae Va to Vc above, it is preferred that R₂₂ is Gly, R₂₃ is absent, R₂₆ is Gly or R₂₇ is Ser, R₂₈ is Asn and R₂₉ is Met.

Preferred bovine sequences of prion proteins according to formulae Va to Vc are given below:

Seq. I.D. No: 23 X-(Pro-Gly-Gly-Gly)-Trp-Asn-Thr-Gly-Gly-Ser-Arg- Tyr-Pro-Gly-Gln-Gly-Ser-Pro-Gly-Gly-Asn-Arg-Tyr- Pro-Pro-Gln-Gly-(Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp)-Y; Seq. I.D. No: 24 X-(Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp)-Gly-Gln-Pro-His-Gly-Gly-Gly- Trp-(Gly-Gln-Pro-His)-Y; and Seq. I.D. No: 25 X-(Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp)-Gly-Gln-Gly-Gly-Thr-His-Gly- Gln-Trp-Asn-Lys-Pro-Ser-Lys-Pro-Lys-Thr-Asn-Met- Lys(-His-Val-Ala-Gly)-Y.

Preferred sequences of formulae Va to Vc relating to ovine prion proteins are as follows:

Seq. I.D. No: 26 X-(Pro-Gly-Gly-Gly)-Trp-Asn-Thr-Gly-Gly-Ser-Arg- Tyr-Pro-Gly-Gln-Gly-Ser-Pro-Gly-Gly-Asn-Arg-Tyr- Pro-Pro-Gln-Gly-(Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp)-Y; Seq. I.D. No: 27 X-(Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp)-Gly-Gln-Pro-His-Gly-Gly-Gly- Trp-(Gly-Gln-Pro-His)Y; and Seq. I.D. No: 28 X-(Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp)-Gly-Gln-Gly-Gly-Ser-His-Ser- Gln-Trp-Asn-Lys-Pro-Ser-Lys-Pro-Lys-Thr-Asn-Met- Lys(-His-Val-Ala-Gly)-Y.

Preferred sequences of formulae Va to Vc relating to human prion proteins are as follows:

Seq. I.D. No: 29 X-Pro-Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp-Asn-Thr-Gly-Gly-Ser-Arg-Tyr- Pro-Gly-Gln-Gly-Ser-Pro-Gly-Gly-Asn-Arg-Tyr-Pro- Pro-Gln-Gly-(Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp)-Y; Seq. I.D. No: 30 X-(Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp)-Gly-Gln-Pro-His-Gly-GIy-Gly- Trp-(Gly-Gln-Pro-His)-Y; and Seq. I.D. No: 31 X-(Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp)-Gly-Gln-Gly-Gly-Gly-Thr-His- Ser-Gln-Trp-Asn-Lys-Pro-Ser-Lys-Pro-Lys-Thr-Asn- Met-Lys (-His-Met-Ala-Gly)-Y.

Particularly preferred sequences of formulae Va to Vc consist of:

Seq. I.D. No: 49 Gly-Gly-Trp-Asn-Thr-Gly-Gly-Ser-Arg-Tyr-Pro-Gly- Gln-Gly-Ser-Pro-Gly-Gly-Asn-Arg-Tyr-Pro-Pro-Gln- Gly-Gly-Gly-Cys; Seq. I.D. No: 46 Gly-Gln-Pro-His-Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp-Gly-Gln-Pro-His- Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp-Gly-Gln-Pro-His-Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp- Gly-Cys; and Seq. I.D. No: 47 Gly-Gln-Gly-Gly-Ser-His-Ser-Gln-Trp-Asn-Lys-Pro- Ser-Lys-Pro-Lys-Thr-Asn-Met-Lys-His-Val-Gly-Cys.

We have noted that in the nucleic acid sequence corresponding to region E, it is possible for the repeating sequence of formula Vb to have undergone a frame shift of either +1 or −1. Such frame shifts give rise to altered sequences in region E of the prion protein and our invention provides a synthetic polypeptide having a sequence wherein a repeat in region E has undergone a −1 frame shift as given in formula VI:

Seq. I.D. No: 59 (VI) X-(R₃₁-R₃₂-Trp-R₃₃)-Trp-Leu-Gly-R₃₄-R₃₅-R₃₆-Trp- R₃₇ (Trp-Leu-Gly-R₃₈)-Y

Wherein R₃₁ and R₃₅ are each independently either Ala or Thr; R₃₂ and R₃₆ are each independently an amino acid residue selected from Ser, Pro and Thr;

-   -   R₃₃ and R₃₇ are each independently either Trp or Arg;     -   R₃₄ and R₃₈ are each independently an amino acid residue         selected from Ala, Ser, Pro and Thr; one or more residues within         brackets may be present or absent with the proviso that if they         are present they are attached to the rest of the peptide in         sequence; and X and Y may each independently be absent or         independently be one or more, additional amino acid residues.

With regard to −1 frame shifts in respect of region E in bovines, it is preferred that R₃₁ is Ala, R₃₂, R₃₄, R₃₆ and R₃₈ are each independently either Ser or Pro, R₃₃ and R₃₇ are Arg and R₃₅ 35 is Ala.

It should be noted that preferred sequences for −1 frame shifts in region E of ovines differ in some respects to those given for bovines and in a referred ovine sequence R₃₁, R₃₂, R₃₃, R₃₅, R₃₆ and R₃₇ correspond to the definitions given for formula VI above; and R₃₄ and R₃₈ are each independently selected from Ser, Pro and Thr.

In a preferred human sequence according to formula VI R₃₁, R₃₄, R₃₅ and R₃₈ are each Ala, R₃₂ and R₃₆ are each independently either Ser or Pro and R₃₃ and R₃₇ are both Trp.

As mentioned previously, the frame shift may be +1 in the repeat portion of region E and this gives rise to different amino acid sequences. Accordingly, our invention provides a synthetic polypeptide according to formula VII below which relates to a +1 frame shift in the repeat of region E:

Seq. I.D. No: 60 (VII) X-(R₃₉-R₄₀-Met-R₄₁)-Val-Ala-Gly-R₄₂-R₄₃-R₄₄-Met- R₄₅-(Val-Ala-Gly-R₄₆)-Y

Wherein R₃₉ and R₄₃ are each independently either Ser or Asn; R₄₀ and R₄₄ are each independently an amino acid residue selected from Pro, Leu and His, R₄₁, and R₄₅ are each independently Val or Glu; R₄₂ and R₄₆ are each independently selected from Val, Ala, Asp and Gly; one or more residues within brackets may be present or absent with the proviso that if they are present they are attached to the rest of the peptide in sequence; and X and Y may each independently be absent or independently be one or more, additional amino acid residues.

A preferred bovine sequence according to formula VII comprises R₃₉ and R₄₃ each being Ser, R₄₂ and R₄₆ each being independently either Val or Ala and R₄₄ being either Pro or Leu; with the other R groups being as defined in formula VII.

A preferred sequence according to formula VII relating to ovines is the same as given in general formula VII except R₄₂ and R₄₆ are each independently selected from Val, Ala and Asp.

With regard to a preferred human sequence according to formula VII, R₃₉ and R₄₃ are Ser, R₄₀ and R₄₄ are each independently Pro or Leu, R₄₁ and R₄₅ are Val and R₄₂ and R₄₆ are each independently either Asp or Gly.

Our invention also provides a synthetic peptide sequence relating to region F and having either the general formula VIIIa or VIIIb:

Seq. I.D. No: 61 (VIIIa) X-(Asn-Phe-Val-His)-Asp-Cys-Val-Asn-Ile-Thr-R₄₇- Lys-R₄₈-His-Thr-Val-R₄₉-Thr-Thr-Thr-Lys-Gly-Glu- Asn-Phe-Thr-Glu-(Thr-Asp-R₅₀-Lys)-Y Seq. I.D. No: 62 (VIIIb) X-(Met-Cys-R₅₁-Thr)-Gln-Tyr-R₅₂-R₅₃-Glu-Ser-Gln- Ala-Tyr-Tyr-R₅₄-R₅₅-Arg-(R₅₆-R₅₇-Ser-R₅₈-R₅₉)-Y

Wherein R₄₇ is either Ile or Val;

-   -   R₄₈ and R₅₂ are each independently either Gln or Glu;     -   R₄₉ is either Val or Thr;     -   R₅₀ is either Val or Ile;     -   R₅₁ is an amino acid residue selected from Ile, Thr and Val;     -   R₅₂ is Gln or Glu;     -   R₅₃ is either Arg or Lys;     -   R₅₄ is either Asp or Gln;     -   R₅₅ is Gly or is absent;     -   R₅₆ is either Gly or Arg;     -   R₅₇ is either Ala or Ser;     -   R₅₈ is Ser or absent;     -   R₅₉ is an amino acid residue selected from Ala, Thr, Met and         Val;         one or more residues within brackets may be present or absent         with the proviso that if they are present they are attached to         the rest of the peptide in sequence; and X and Y may each         independently be absent or independently be one or more, e.g. 3,         additional amino acid residues.

It is preferred in formula VIIIa that R₄₉ is Thr and in formula VIIIb that R₅₁ is Ile, R₅₃ is Arg, R₅₄ is Gln, R₅₅ is absent, R₅₆ is Gly, R₅₇ is Ala and R₅₈ is absent.

Most preferred bovine, ovine and human sequences according to formulae VIIIa and VIIIb are given below in order:

Seq. I.D. No: 32 (VIIIa) X-(Asn-Phe-Val-His)-Asp-Cys-Val-Asn-Ile-Thr-Val- Lys-Glu-His-Thr-Val-Thr-Thr-Thr-Thr-Lys-Gly-Glu- Asn-Phe-Thr-Glu-(Thr-Asp-Ile-Lys)-Y bovine; and Seq. I.D. No: 33 (VIIIb) X-(Met-Cys-Ile-Thr)-Gln-Tyr-Gln-Arg-Glu-Ser-Gln- Ala-Tyr-Tyr-Gln-Arg-(Gly-Ala-Ser-Val)-Y bovine; Seq. I.D. No: 34 (VIIIa) X-(Asn-Phe-Val-His)-Asp-Cys-Val-Asn-Ile-Thr-Val- Ly-Gln-His-Thr-Val-Thr-Thr-Thr-Thr-Lys-Gly-Glu- Asn-Phe-Thr-Glu-(Thr-ASp-Ile-Lys)-Y ovine, and Seq. I.D. No: 35 (VIIIb) X-(Met-Cys-Ile-Thr)-Gln-Tyr-Gln-Arg-Glu-Ser-Gln- Ala-Tyr-Tyr-Gln-Arg-(Gly-Ala-Ser-Val)-Y ovine Seq. I.D. No: 36 (VIIIa) X-(Asn-Phe-Val-His)-Asp-Cys-Val-Asn-Ile-Thr-Ile- Lys-Gln-His-Thr-Val-Thr-Thr-Thr-Thr-Lys-Gly-Glu- Asn-Phe-Thr-G1u-(Thr-Asp-Val-Lys)-Y human, and Seq. I.D. No: 37 (VIIIb) X-(Met-Cys-Ile-Thr)-Gln-Tyr-Glu-Arg-Glu-Ser-Gln- Ala-Tyr-Tyr-Gln-Arg-(Gly-Ser-Ser-Met)-Y human.

Particularly preferred sequences according to formula VIIIa and VIIIb are selected from

Seq. I.D. No: 50 Val-Asn-Ile-Thr-Val-Lys-Gln-His-Thr-Val-Thr-Thr- Thr-Thr-Lys-Gly-Glu-Asn-Phe-Thr-Glu-Gly-Cys; and Seq. I.D. No: 48 Cys-Ile-Thr-Glu-Tyr-Gln-Arg-Glu-Ser-Gln-Ala-Tyr- Tyr-Gln-Arg.

Synthetic polypeptides according to any one of formulae I to VIIIb above without X and Y being present will of course be useful, for example, in the production of antibodies. However, when X or Y are present they may be any length but preferably less than 20 amino acids, more preferably less than 10, e.g. 3 to 6. It will of course be appreciated that a sequence according to any one of formulae I to VIIIb may constitute a protein with X and Y being major portions of the protein with the antigenic sequence being for example, part of an exposed loop on a globular protein.

It is preferred that if X or Y are present they are relatively short sequences, typically 1 to 3 residues long. In most instances X is preferably absent and Y is 1 or 2 residues long, e.g. -Cys or -Gly-Cys.

All the sequences herein are stated using the standard I.U.P.A.C. three-letter-code abbreviations for amino acid residues defined as follows: Gly-Glycine, Ala-Alanine, Val-Valine, Leu-Leucine, Ile-Isoleucine, Ser-Serine, Thr-Threonine, Asp-Aspartic acid, Glu-Glutamic acid, Asn-Asparagine, Gln-Glutamine, Lys-Lysine, His-Histidine, Arg-Arginine, Phe-Phenylalanine, Tyr-Tyrosine, Trp-Tryptophan, Cys-Cysteine, Met-Methionine and Pro-Proline.

Polypeptides according to the invention may be used to raise antibodies which will cross-react with prion proteins produced in a wide range of organisms. Our analyses have shown that since the conformational, topographic and electrostatic properties of polypeptides according to the invention are such that they are highly likely to elicit the production of antibodies which will cross-react with prion proteins from several or many organisms, further advantages may arise from combining several variant polypeptides in a larger polypeptide. Such a polypeptide may have the general formula (IX): [L _(a) −F] _(m) −[L _(b) −G] _(n) −L _(c)  (IX) wherein F and G may each independently be a polypeptide or sub-fragment according to any one of Formulae I to VIIIb, L is a linking sequence, a, b and c are each independently 0 or 1 and m and n are each positive numbers e.g. between 1 and 10 inclusive. L is preferably a short, conformationally flexible section of polypeptide chain such as, for example and without limit (Seq. I.D. No: 38) Gly-Gly-Gly-Gly-Gly, (Seq. I.D. No: 39) Gly-Pro-Gly-Pro-Gly-Pro or (Seq. I.D. No: 40) Gly-Ser-Ala-Gly-Ser-Gly-Ala. It should be clear that each repeat may optionally have a different variant of a polypeptide according to the invention.

It should be noted certain of the C-terminals correspond to N-terminals, particularly formula Va to formula Vb, formula Vc to formula I, formula I to formula II, formula II to formula III, formula III to formula VIIIa and formula VIIIb to formula IV. Advantage may be taken to this correspondence when producing larger polypeptides according to formula IX. Linking sequences together with respective X and Y moieties may be omitted and residues in brackets may be selected so that either the regions of correspondence are duplicated or some or all of the duplicated residues are omitted. In the latter case it will be seen that the C-terminal of one polypeptide merges with the N-terminal of the other polypeptide.

Polyvalent determinant analogues as defined by Formula IX may be either what is referred to as pseudohomopolyvalent, wherein variants of essentially the same determinant analogue are repeated in a single polypeptide chain and/or heteropolyvalent, wherein distinct determinants are included in a single polypeptide. In addition, simple homopolyvalent polypeptide immunogens, which contain multiple copies of the same variant of one of the determinant analogues according to any one of formulae I to VIIIb, would also be expected to be effective, and are also included within the scope of the present invention.

It is to be understood that any antigenically significant subfragments and/or antigenically significant variants of the above-identified polypeptide sequences which retain the general form and function of the parent polypeptide are included within the scope of this invention. In particular, the substitution of any of the specific residues by residues having comparable conformational and/or physical properties, including substitution by rare (but naturally occurring, e.g. D-stereoisomers) or synthetic amino acid analogues, is included. For example, substitution of a residue by another in the same Set, as defined below, is included within the ambit of the invention; Set 1-Ala, Val, Leu, Ile, Phe, Tyr, Trp and Met; Set 2-Ser, Thr, Asn and Gln; Set 3-Asp and Glu; Set 4-Lys, His and Arg; Set 5-Asn and Asp; Set 6-Glu and Gln; Set 7-Gly, Ala, Pro, Ser and Thr. D-stereoisomers of all amino acid types, may be substituted, for example, D-Phe, D-Tyr and D-Trp.

In preferred embodiments of the invention, X and Y if present may independently include one or more segments of protein sequence with the ability to act as a T-cell epitope. For example, segments of amino acid sequence of the general formula 1-2-3-4, where 1 is Gly or a charged amino acid (e.g. Lys, His, Arg, Asp or Glu), 2 is a hydrophobic amino acid (e.g. Ile, Leu, Val, Met, Tyr, Phe, Trp, Ala), 3 is either a hydrophobic amino acid (as defined above) or an uncharged polar amino acid (e.g. Asn, Ser, Thr, Pro, Gln, Gly), and 4 is a polar amino acid (e.g. Lys, Arg, His, Glu, Asp, Asn, Gin, Ser, Thr, Pro), appear to act as T-cell epitopes in at least some instances (Rothbard, J. B. & Taylor, W. R. (1988). A sequence pattern in common to T-cell epitopes. The EMBO Journal 7(1): 93-100). Similarly segments can be of the sequence 1′-2′-3′-4′-5′, wherein 1′ is equivalent to 1 as defined earlier, 2′ to 2, 3′ and 4′ to 3, and 5′ to 4 (ibid). Both forms are included within the scope of the present invention and one or more T-cell epitopes (preferably less than five) which may be of the type defined above or may be of other structure and which may be separated by spacer segments of any length or composition, preferably less than five amino acid residues in length and comprising for example residues selected from Gly, Ala, Pro, Asn, Thr, Ser or polyfunctional linkers such as non-a amino acids. It is possible for a C- or N-terminal linker to represent a complete protein, thus obviating the possible need for conjugation to a carrier protein.

Also included within the scope of this invention are derivatives of the polypeptides according to any one formulae I to VIIIb in which X or Y are or include a “retro-inverso” amino acid, i.e. a bifunctional amine having a functional group corresponding to an amino acid. For example an analogue according to the invention and containing a retro-inverso amino acid may have the formula:

where R is any functional group, e.g. a glycine side chain, and A1 and A2 are preferably each a copy of one of the analogues defined herein (but not necessarily the same) attached by its—or C-terminal end. T-cell epitopes may optionally be included as discussed earlier.

Retro-inverso modification of peptides involves the reversal of one or more peptide bonds to create analogues more resistant than the original molecule to 27enzymatic degradation and offer one convenient route to the generation of branched immunogens which contain a high concentration of epitope for a medium to large immunogen. The use of these compounds in large-scale solution synthesis of retro-inverso analogues of short-chain biologically active peptides has great potential.

Peptides according to the invention may be synthesized by standard peptide synthesis techniques, for example using either standard 9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (F-Moc) chemistry (see, for example, Atherton, E. and Sheppard, R. C. (1985) J. Chem. Soc. Chem. Comm. 165) or standard butyloxycarbonate (T-Boc) chemistry although it is noted that, more recently, the fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (Fmoc)/tert-butyl system, developed by Sheppard et al has found increasingly wide application (Sheppard, R. C. 1986 Science Tools, The LKB Journal 33, 9). The correctness of the structure and the level of purity, which will normally be in excess of 85%, should be carefully checked, and particular attention be given to the correctness of internal disulphide bridging arrangements when present. Various chromatographic analyses, including high performance liquid chromatography, and spectrographic analyses, including Raman spectroscopy, may for example be employed for this purpose.

It is to be understood that the polypeptides according to the invention may be synthesized by any conventional method, either directly using manual or automated peptide synthesis techniques as mentioned above, or indirectly by RNA or DNA synthesis and conventional techniques of molecular biology and genetic engineering. Such techniques may be used to produce hybrid proteins containing one or more of the polypeptides inserted into another polypeptide sequence.

Another aspect of the present invention therefore provides a DNA molecule coding for at least one synthetic polypeptide according to the invention, preferably incorporated into a suitable expression vector replicable in microorganisms or in mammalian cells. The DNA may also be part of the DNA sequence for a longer product e.g. the polypeptides may be expressed as parts of other proteins into which they have been inserted by genetic engineering. One practical guide to such techniques is “Molecular cloning: a laboratory manual” by Sambrook, J., Fritsch, E. F. and Maniatis, T. (2nd Edition, 1989).

It should be noted that analogues incorporating retro-inverso amino acid derivatives cannot be made directly using a recombinant DNA system. However, the basic analogues can, and they can then be purified and chemically linked to the retro-inverso amino-acids using standard peptide/organic chemistry. A practical and convenient novel procedure for the solid-phase synthesis on polyamide-type resin of retro-inverso peptides has been described recently [Gazerro, H., Pinori, M. & Verdini, A. S. (1990). A new general procedure for the solid-phase synthesis of retro-inverso peptides. In “Innovation and Perspectives in Solid Phase Synthesis” Ed. Roger Epton. SPCC (UK) Ltd, Birmingham, UK].

The polypeptides are optionally linked to a carrier molecule, either through chemical groups within the polypeptides themselves or through additional amino acids added at either the C- or N-terminus, and which may be separated from the polypeptides themselves or surrounded by one or more additional amino acids, in order to render them optimal for their immunological function. Many linkages are suitable and include for example use of the side chains of Tyr, Cys and Lys residues. Suitable carriers include, for example, purified protein derivative of tuberculin (PPD), tetanus toxoid (TT), cholera toxin and its B subunit, ovalbumin, bovine serum albumin (BSA), soybean trypsin inhibitor (STI), muramyl dipeptide (MDP) and analogues thereof, diphtheria toxoid (DPT), keyhole limpet haemocyanin (KLH) and Braun's lipoprotein although other suitable carriers will be readily apparent to the skilled person. For example, multiple antigen peptides may be used such as those comprising a polylysyl core, e.g. heptalysyl, bearing reactive amine termini. Polypeptide antigens according to the invention may be reacted with, or synthesized on, the amino termini and different polypeptide antigens may be reacted with the same core or carrier. When using PPD as a carrier for polypeptides according to the invention, a higher titre of antibodies is achieved if the recipient of the polypeptide-PPD conjugate is already tuberculin sensitive, e.g. by virtue of earlier BCG vaccination. In the case of a human vaccine it is worth noting that in the UK and many other countries the population is routinely offered BCG vaccination and is therefore largely PPD-sensitive. Hence PPD is expected to be a preferred carrier for use in such countries.

The mode of coupling the polypeptide to the carrier will depend on the nature of the materials to be coupled. For example, a lysine residue in the carrier may be coupled to a C-terminal or other cysteine residue in a polypeptide by treatment with N-γ-maleimidobutyryloxy-succinimide (Kitagawa, T. & Ackawa, T. (1976) J. Biochem. 79, 233). Alternatively, a lysine residue in the carrier may be conjugated to a glutamic or aspartic acid residue in the peptide using isobutylchloroformate (Thorell, J. I. De Larson, S. M. (1978) Radioimmunoassay and related techniques: Methodology and clinical applications, p.288). Other coupling reactions and reagents have been described in the literature.

The polypeptides, either alone or linked to a carrier molecule, may be administered by any route (e.g. parenteral, nasal, oral, rectal, intra-vaginal), with or without the use of conventional adjuvants (such as aluminum hydroxide or Freund's complete or incomplete adjuvants) and/or other immunopotentiating agents. The invention also includes formulation of polypeptides according to the invention in slow-release forms, such as a sub-dermal implant or depot comprising, for example, liposomes (Allison, A. C. & Gregoriadis, G. (1974) Nature (London) 252, 252) or biodegradable microcapsules manufactured from co-polymers of lactic acid and glycolic acids (Gresser, J. D. and Sanderson, J. E. (1984) in “Biopolymer Controlled Release Systems” pp 127-138, Ed. D. L. Wise).

Polypeptides according to the invention may be used either alone or linked to an appropriate carrier, as:

-   (a) As ligands in assays of, for example, serum from patients or     animals; -   (b) Peptide vaccines, for use in prophylaxis, -   (c) As quality control agents in testing, for example, binding     levels of antibodies raised against the polypeptides; -   (d) As antigenic agents for the generation of monoclonal or     polyclonal antibodies by immunization of an appropriate animal, such     antibodies being of use for (i) the scientific study of prion     proteins, (ii) as diagnostic agents, e.g. as part of     immunohistochemical reagents, (iii) for the passive immunisation of     animals or patients, either as a treatment for encephalophathies or     in combination with other agents, (iv) as a means of targeting other     agents to regions comprising prion proteins, such agents either     being linked covalently or otherwise associated, e.g. as in     liposomes containing such agents and incorporating antibodies raised     against any of the antigenic polypeptides and (v) for use as     immunogens to raise anti-idiotype antibodies; such anti-idiotype     antibodies also form part of this invention. The invention further     provides for genetically engineered forms or sub-components,     especially V_(H) regions, of antibodies raised against the     polypeptides, and of ovinised, bovinised, or humanized forms of     antibodies initially raised against the polypeptides in other     animals, using techniques described in the literature; and -   (e) The treatment of encephalopathies, either by displacing the     binding of prion proteins to human or animal cells or by disturbing     the three-dimensional organization of the protein in vivo; as well     as aiding the scientific study of prion proteins in vitro.

In respect of detection and diagnosis, of prion proteins or antibodies against prion proteins, the skilled person will be aware of a variety of immunoassay techniques known in the art, inter alia, sandwich assay, competitive and non-competitive assays and the use of direct and indirect labeling.

A further aspect of the invention provides a kit for detecting prion proteins or antibodies against prion proteins which comprises at least one synthetic polypeptide according to the invention.

The preparation of polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies, humanized forms of such antibodies (see, for example, Thompson K. M. et al (1986) Immunology 58, 157-160), single domain antibodies (see, for example, Ward, E. S., Gussow, D., Griffiths, A. D., Jones, P. and Winter, G. (1989) Nature 341, 544-546), and antibodies which might cross the blood-brain barrier, which bind specifically to a synthetic polypeptide according to the present invention, may be carried out by conventional means and such antibodies are considered to form part of this invention. Antibodies according to the invention are, inter alia, of use in a method of diagnosing mammalian encephalopathies which comprises incubating a sample of tissue or body fluid of mammal with an amount of antibody as described herein and determining whether, and if desired the extent to which and/or rate at which, cross-reaction between said sample and said antibody occurs. Diagnostic kits which contain at least one of said antibodies also form part of this invention.

A further aspect of the invention provides synthetic polypeptides for use in therapy or prophylaxis of mammalian encephalopathies and/or stimulating the mammalian immune system and/or blocking the cellular binding or aggregation of the prion proteins and for the preparation of medicaments suitable for such uses. Also included are pharmaceutical compositions containing, as active ingredient, at least one polypeptide or polypeptide-carrier conjugate as described herein in association with one or more pharmaceutically acceptable adjuvants, carriers and/or excipients. The compositions may be formulated for oral, rectal, nasal or especially parenteral administration (including intra-CNS administration).

The invention further provides a method of therapy or prophylaxis of mammalian encephalopathies and/or of stimulating the mammalian immune system and/or of blocking the cellular binding or aggregation of the prion proteins, which comprises administering an amount of a polypeptide as hereinbefore defined, either in isolation or in combination with other agents for the treatment of encephalopathies.

Discrimination between natural PrP^(C) and PrP^(SC) is highly desired since PrP^(C) is found in normal subjects and both PrP^(C) and PrP^(SC) are found in a diseased subject. We have found that peptide sequences according to the invention, preferably those relating to regions A, B and C, and significant sub-fragments thereof may be used to discriminate between natural PrP^(C) and infective PrP^(SC). Also, antibodies raised against these peptide sequences and sub-fragments and the nucleotide sequences which code for such peptide sequences and sub-fragments may also be used to discriminate between PrP^(C) and PrP^(SC). Accordingly, the invention provides a method of discriminating between PrP^(C) and PrP^(SC) in which a sample is contacted with a substance selected from peptide sequences according to the invention, preferably those relating to regions A, B and C, and significant sub-fragments thereof, antibodies raised against said sequences and sub-fragments and the presence or absence of PrP^(SC) is determined.

In some instances discrimination may be enhanced by pretreatment of the sample, for example by pre-digestion with enzymes e.g. proteinase K, or denaturation by strong alkali e.g. 6M guanidine hydrochloride or by a combination of such treatments.

It will be preferable to use the peptide sequences, antibodies and nucleotide sequences which relate to the specific subject under test, e.g. bovine sequences and antibodies for cattle, ovine sequences and antibodies for sheep.

It may be advantageous to immunize with a cocktail containing (i) a given analogue conjugated to more than one type of carrier molecule, and/or (ii) more than one kind of analogue conjugated to the same carrier molecule. Moreover, any of the peptide analogues, their conjugates, and cocktails thereof may be administered in any suitable adjuvant or delivery system, and more than one adjuvant or delivery system may be combined to form a so-called “super-cocktail”. Preferred adjuvants and delivery systems include aluminum hydroxide (alum), liposomes, micelles, niosomes, ISCOMS, Brauns lipoprotein and whole-cell or components of microbial animal vaccines.

EXAMPLE 1

A preferred bovine form of formula II (Seq. I.D. No: 41) Ala-Met-Ser-Arg-Pro-Leu-Ile-His-Phe-Gly-Ser-Asp-Tyr-Glu-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Tyr-Arg-Glu-Asn-Met-His-Arg-Gly-Cy s (related to Seq. I.D. No: 7) in which the C-terminal Y extension is Gly-Cys according to the invention is synthesised using standard solid-phase Fmoc methodologies. The peptide is cleaved from the resin in the presence of trifluroacetic acid and subsequent purification is achieved by gel filtration, ion exchange chromatography and reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography. The peptide is conjugated to a variety of carriers by MBS (m-Maleimido-benzoyl-N-hydroxy succinimide ester), a well-known hetero-bifunctional reagent.

Examples of carriers include KLH, BSA and TT which have been shown to provide necessary immunopotentiating properties to B cell epitopes.

The peptide carrier conjugates are emulsified in Freund's Complete Adjuvant and are administered intramuscularly to mice. Subsequent booster injections are given in Freund's Incomplete Adjuvant.

The ensuing serum antibody response is monitored throughout the immunization schedule by enzyme immunoassay (ELISA) using immobilized antigen (formula II), coupled to BSA, the serum sample under test, and an enzyme-labeled anti-mouse antibody.

In this example, use of carriers, adjuvants and delivery systems and booster injections are effected in order to determine an optimal protocol for producing anti-formula II antibodies.

EXAMPLE 2

Antibodies to formula II are used as diagnostic reagents for assaying the presence of prion protein in serum, in “cell carriers” in serum and in tissue biopsies of injected animal species.

A direct enzyme immunoassay (ELISA) can detect the presence of extracted prion protein by its immobilization onto a solid substrate. Reaction of mouse antisera raised to formula II with native prion protein is detected with an enzyme-labeled anti-mouse antiserum. The reaction is quantified by addition of a suitable substrate and reading the optical density of the color produced.

Furthermore, immunohistochemical diagnosis of prion proteins in tissue biopsies can be performed by reacting anti-formula II antibodies with paraffin wax embedded or frozen tissue. Reactions can be detected using a standard indirect immunoperoxidase technique.

EXAMPLE 3

Materials and Methods

Peptide Synthesis

The following peptides were synthesised using standard solid-phase Fmoc methodologies.

Peptide II: (Seq. I.D. No: 42) Ser-Ala-Met-Ser-Arg-Pro-Leu-Ile-His-Phe-Gly-Asn- Asp-Tyr-Glu-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Tyr-Gly-Cys

(A preferred ovine sub-fragment of formula II).

Peptide BII: (Seq. I.D. No: 43) Ser-Ala-Met-Ser-Arg-Pro-Leu-Ile-His-Phe-Gly-Ser- Asp-Tyr-Glu-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Tyr-Gly-Cys

(A preferred bovine sub-fragment of formula II).

Peptide III: (Seq. I.D. No: 44) Asn-Met-Tyr-Arg-Tyr-Pro-Asn-Gln-Val-Tyr-Tyr-Arg- Pro-Val-Asp-Arg-Tyr-Ser-Asn-Gln-Asn-Asn-Phe-Val- His-Gly-Cys

(A preferred ovine sequence of formula III (p8, in 30-32).

Peptide BIII: (Seq. I.D. No: 45) Asn-Met-His-Arg-Tyr-Pro-Asn-Gln-Val-Tyr-Tyr-Arg- Pro-Val-Asp-Gln-Tyr-Ser-Asn-Gln-Asn-Asn-Phe-Val- His-Gly-Cys

(A preferred bovine sequence of formula III (p8, in 26-28).

Peptide Vb: (Seq. I.D. No: 46) Gly-Gln-Pro-His-Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp-Gly-Gln-Pro-His- Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp-Gly-Gln-Pro-His-Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp- Gly-Cys

(A preferred ovine/bovine sequence of formula Vb).

Peptide Vc: (Seq. I.D. No: 47) Gly-Gln-Gly-Gly-Ser-His-Ser-Gln-Trp-Asn-Lys-Pro- Ser-Lys-Pro-Lys-Thr-Asn-Met-Lys-His-Val-Gly-Cys

(A preferred ovine sequence of formula Vc).

Peptide VIIIb: (Seq. I.D. No: 48) Cys-Ile-Thr-Gln-Tyr-Gln-Arg-Glu-Ser-Gln-Ala-Tyr-Tyr-Gln-Arg

(A preferred ovine/bovine sequence of formula VIIIb).

Peptide Va: (Seq. I.D. No: 49) Gly-Gly-Trp-Asn-Thr-Gly-Gly-Ser-Arg-Tyr-Pro-Gly- Gln-Gly-Ser-Pro-Gly-Gly-Asn-Arg-Tyr-Pro-Pro-Gln- Gly-Gly-Gly-Cys Peptide VIIIa: (Seq. I.D. No:50) Val-Asn-Ile-Thr-Val-Lys-Gln-His-Thr-Val-Thr-Thr- Thr-Thr-Lys-Gly-Glu-Asn-Phe-Thr-Glu-Gly-Cys

(A preferred ovine sequence of formula VIIIa).

Peptide I: (Seq. I.D. No:51) Lys-His-Met-Ala-Gly-Ala-Ala-Ala-Ala-Gly-Ala-Val- Val-Gly-Gly-Leu-Gly-Gly-Tyr-Met-Leu-Gly-Ser-Ala- Met-Ser-Arg-Gly-Cys.

Peptides I, II, BII, III, BIII, Va, Vb, Vc and VIIIa were synthesised with the C-terminal extension according to the invention. The peptides were cleaved from the resin in the presence of trifluoroacetic acid and subsequent purification was achieved by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography. All peptides had a purity of 85% or more.

Conjugation of Peptides to Ovalbumin

Peptides were conjugated through their C-terminal (peptides II, BII, III, BIII, Vb and Vc) or N-terminal (peptide VIIIb) Cys residues. Peptides were dissolved in dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) to a concentration of 10 mg/ml. Preactivated ovalbumin (Pierce, Inject Kit) was resuspended in 1 ml of distilled water, and equal volumes of preactivated ovalbumin and peptide were mixed and the solution allowed to stand at room temperature for 3 hours. The conjugate was dialyzed overnight against phosphate buffered saline (PBS) to remove the DMSO and unconjugated peptide.

The extent of conjugation was determined by measuring the free-thiol content using an Ellman's assay and by monitoring the increase in the molecular mass of the conjugate by SDS-PAGE (sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis).

Generation of Rabbit Antisera.

Antiserum was raised against each of the peptide conjugates in two female New Zealand White rabbits. Each rabbit received an amount of conjugate equivalent to 40 μg of peptide for both the primary inoculation and the boosters. Rabbits were injected as follows:

Day 0: Conjugate in Freund's Complete Adjuvant (1:1, v/v) intramuscularly. Day 21: Conjugate in Freund's Incomplete Adjuvant (1:1, v/v) intramuscularly. Day 31: Conjugate on its own intraperitoneally.

Animals were bled on day 41, and the sera assayed for anti-peptide antibody by ELISA (using free peptide as the coating antigen). The sera were also used in immunoblot and dot blot assays to see if they could recognize proteins from the brain homogenates.

Preparation of Brain Homogenates

Scrapie-free brain material was obtained from a flock of New Zealand sheep in quarantine.

Scrapie-infected brain material was obtained from a Department of Agriculture and had been histopathalogically diagnosed as being scrapie infected.

BSE-infected brain material was obtained via a government Agriculture Department and had been histopathalogically certified as being BSE infected.

BSE-free material was obtained through a private source.

Ha27-30 is brain material obtained from an inbred hamster scrapie model, which has been shown to contain a high level of the scrapie-infective agent. It was used as a positive control.

Small samples of infected and uninfected brain were weighed and 10% (w/v) homogenates made up in 10% (v/v) solution of Sarkosyl in 25 mM Tris-HCl pH 7.4 (homogenization buffer). The homogenate was incubated at 4° C. for 30 mins and then spun at 6000×g for 30 mins. The supernatant was collected and the protein content determined using the BCA protein assay kit (Pierce). The protein concentration was adjusted to 3 mg/ml using homogenizaton buffer.

ELISA (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay)

A 8 μM solution of free peptide in PBS was used as the coating antigen. Microtitre plates were coated by adding 50 μl of the antigen concentration to each well and then incubated for 1 hour at 37° C. to allow binding to occur. Each well was washed 5 times, for 2 minutes, with 300 μl of PBS containing 0.05% Tween 20. After washing, the plates were blocked by incubating for 1 hour at 37° C. with PBS containing 0.3% Tween 20 and 3% non-fat milk. An aliquot of 50 μl of primary antibody (i.e. antisera) diluted in PBS was added to the appropriate wells and the plates incubated for 1 hour at 37° C. Plates were washed as before, and then incubated with Horseradish peroxidase conjugated swine anti-rabbit immunoglobulin (anti Ig/HRP) at a dilution of 1:1000 in PBS for 1 hour at 37° C. The plates were washed and 50 μl of OPD (O-phenylenediamine dihydrochloride substrate (10 mg/ml) in citrate buffer) added to each well and the reaction allowed to proceed at room temperature for 10 minutes, before being stopped by the addition of sulphuric acid. The absorbence of each well was measured at 492 nm using an ELISA plate reader. The titres were recorded as the dilutions which gave a positive optical density (OD) reading at least 3 times that of the background. The background was taken as the OD readings from wells which had not been coated with antigen.

Dot Blot Detection of PrP in Brain Homogenates

The brain homogenates prepared as described earlier were diluted 10-fold in PBS, and 100 μl of homogenates (containing 30 μg total protein) were applied to nitrocellulose filters using BRL 96 well vacuum manifold. The filters were dried for 1 hour at room temperature. The filters were then either wet with TBST (10 mM Tris-HCl pH 7.4, 150 mM NaCl, 0.05% Tween 20) and PrP detected as described in the immunoblots, or the protein sample further treated. This further treatment of the sample included digestion of the protein on the filter using 100 μg/ml proteinase K in TBST for 90 minutes at room temperature. The proteinase K was inactivated by the addition of PMSF (phenylmethylsulphonyl fluoride) to a concentration of 5 mM in TBST. After protein digestion, some samples were also denatured by incubating the filters in 6M guanidine HCl containing 5 mM PMSF for 10 minutes. The guanidine was removed by 3 washes with TBST prior to incubation with the primary antibody.

Immunoblots. (Western Blots)

SDS-PAGE was performed on the brain homogenates, prepared as described previously, using standard techniques. The samples within the gel were transferred onto nitrocellulose in a Biorad transblot using Towbin Buffer (25 mM Tris, 190 mM glycine and 0.1% SDS) at 70 mA overnight. The nitrocellulose filter was blocked with 5% non-fat milk for 30 minutes at room temperature. The primary antibody (i.e. antisera) diluted in TBST was applied for 3 hours at room temperature, the filter washed 3 times for 10 minutes in TBST and the filter incubated for 2 hours at room temperature with the alkaline phosphatase-conjugated swine anti-rabbit immunoglobulin diluted at a dilution of 1:2000. After washing, the protein bands were detected using the NBT/BCIP (nitro-blue tetrazolium; 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl phosphate) substrate (Boehringer Mannheim).

Results

-   1) Antibody titres: Good antibody titres to the peptides were     obtained in all cases, though the level varied enormously. The     peptide which gave the highest titre, also gave the best results in     the dot blots. -   2) Dot Blot Data: Uninfected tissue would be expected to contain     only normal prion protein (PrP^(C)). Infected tissue would be     expected to contain both the normal and the diseased (PrP^(SC))     forms of PrP.     -   PrP^(SC) has a molecular weight of approximately 33-35 kD.         PrP^(SC) has a molecular weight of approximately 27-30 kD and is         missing an N-terminal segment that is present in the PrP^(C)         form. Otherwise, the amino acid sequence of PrP^(SC) is exactly         the same as that of PrP^(C). Probably the most significant         characteristic of (PrP^(SC) is resistance to enzyme degradation         with proteinase K, a non-specific protein-digesting enzyme.     -   When a protein sample is treated with proteinase K any PrP^(C)         should be completely digested. Therefore, in a sample containing         only PrP^(C), no PrP of any form will remain after proteinase K         treatment. However, in a sample containing PrP^(C) and PrP^(SC)         (i.e. a diseased sample), PrP^(SC) will remain after treatment.     -   There are antibodies currently available which recognize         PrP^(SC), but they only recognize the denatured protein.         Therefore after proteinase K treatment, samples in the dot blot         test were treated with guanidine HCl, a denaturing agent, so         that such antibodies could be used to detect PrP^(SC).     -   The data are given in Tables I-V.         Peptide II

Good titres. Dot blots appear to indicate that some discrimination is occurring. Negative results were obtained from the Western blots.

Peptide III

Reasonable titres. Possibly there is recognition of a non-specific (perhaps non-protein) component in the proteinase K and guanidine treated samples. Negative results were obtained from the Western blots.

Peptide Vb

Good titres. Although it appears that there might be some discrimination occurring, the Vb peptide in fact occurs within the N-terminal region that is missing in PrP^(SC). One would therefore not expect to see any recognition in the infected material treated with proteinase K and guanidine. However, one possible explanation is that the PrP^(C) present in the infected

material has not been completely digested by the proteinase K. Negative results were obtained from the Western blots.

Peptide Vc: Excellent titres. These results are exactly as expected. As mentioned previously, antibodies which recognize PrP^(SC) generally only recognize the protein in its denatured state. Infected and uninfected samples, as well as containing PrP^(SC) and/or PrP^(C) in their “native” states, will also contain both PrP forms in various stages of denaturation due to natural protein turnover within cells. For this reason, antibodies would be expected to detect all three untreated samples. However, proteinase K treatment will digest PrP^(C) and any partially denatured PrP^(SC) leading to a loss of antibody recognition in all samples (assuming the antibody only recognizes denatured PrP). The addition of guanidine should restore antibody recognition in material which had originally contained PrP^(SC). Western blots showed up the expected protein bands at the correct molecular weights.

Peptide VIIIb:

Reasonable titre. There may be recognition of a non-specific component. Negative results were obtained form the Western blots.

Peptides BII & BIII:

The titres are reasonable and there are strong positive results from untreated normal and infected bovine brain material.

In summary, good anti-peptide titres obtained in all cases, the Western blots only worked well in the case of peptide Vc, which also gave the highest titre and the dot blots show that there is some discrimination occurring between PrP^(C) and PrP^(SC) with peptide Vc. Data from peptide II also suggests that discrimination is occurring.

TABLE I Results from ovine peptide sequences Dot Blot Pept/ Anti- Ovine Prot carrier body Brain Prot K + West Ratio number Titre Material Untrt K Gua Blot II 8:1 93 20,000 infected ++ + + normal ++ − − Ha27-30 +/− +/− +/− II 8:1 94 20,000 infected ++ + + normal ++ − − Ha27-30 + + + III 6:1 101 5,000 infected ++ + + normal ++ − + Ha27-30 ++ − ++ III 6:1 102 5,000 infected +++ + + normal +++ +/− +/− Ha27-30 +++ ++ ++ Vc 5:1 97 160,000 infected +++ +/− +++ + normal +++ +/− +/− + Ha27-30 +++ ++ +++ + Vc 5:1 98 320,000 infected +++ +/− +++ + normal +++ +/− +/− + Ha27-30 +++ +/− +++ +

TABLE II Results from ovine peptide sequences Dot Blot Pept/ Anti- Bovine Prot carrier body Brain Prot K + West Ratio number Titre Material Untrt K Gua Blot II 8:1 93 20,000 infected ++ + + normal ++ + + Ha27-30 +/− +/− +/− II 8:1 94 20,000 infected ++ + + normal ++ + + Ha27-30 + + + III 6:1 101 5,000 infected ++ + + normal ++ + + Ha27-30 ++ ++ ++ III 6:1 102 5,000 infected ++ + ++ normal ++ + + Ha27-30 ++ ++ ++ Vc 5:1 97 160,000 infected +++ + ++ normal ++ + + Ha27-30 +++ ++ +++ Vc 5:1 98 320,000 infected +++ + ++ normal ++ +/− +/− Ha27-30 +++ +/− +++

TABLE III Results from ovine/bovine peptide sequences Anti- Dot Blot Pept/ body Ovine Prot carrier num- Brain Prot K + West Ratio ber Titre Material Untrt K Gua Blot Vb 6:1 95 50,000 infected ++ + + normal ++ − − Ha27-30 ++ ++ ++ Vb 6:1 96 10,000 infected ++ + + normal ++ − − Ha27-30 ++ ++ ++ VIIIb 12:1 103 3,000 infected ++ + + normal ++ + + Ha27-30 ++ +/− +/− VIIIb 12:1 104 3,000 infected + + + normal + + + Ha27-30 ++ + +

TABLE IV Results from ovine/bovine peptide sequences Anti- Dot Blot Pept/ body Bovine Prot carrier num- Brain Prot K + West Ratio ber Titre Material Untrt K Gua Blot Vb 6:1 95 50,000 infected ++ + + normal ++ + + Ha27-30 ++ ++ ++ Vb 6:1 96 10,000 infected ++ + + normal ++ + + Ha27-30 ++ ++ ++ VIIIb 12:1 103 3,000 infected ++ + + normal ++ + + Ha27-30 ++ +/− +/− VIIIb 12:1 104 3,000 infected + + + normal ++ +/− +/− Ha27-30 + + +

TABLE V Results from bovine peptide sequences Anti- Dot Blot Pept/ body Bovine Prot carrier num- Brain Prot K + West Ratio ber Titre Material Untrt K Gua Blot BII 9:1 105 100,000 infected +++ + + normal +++ + + Ha27-30 + + + BII 9:1 106 100,000 infected +++ + + normal +++ + + Ha27-30 + + + BIII 5:1 107 20,000 infected +++ +/− +/− normal +++ +/− +/− Ha27-30 + + + BIII 5:1 108 10,000 infected +++ +/− +/− normal +++ +/− +/− Ha27-30 + + + 

1. An isolated polyclonal antibody which specfically binds to a synthetic polypeptide comprising a sequence of SEQ. ID NO. 58 according to formula Vc: SEQ. ID NO. 58 X-(Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp)-Gly-Gln-Gly-Gly-R₂₄-R₂₅- (Vc) His-R₂₆-Gln-Trp-Asn-Lys-Pro-R₂₇-Lys-Pro-Lys-Thr- R₂₈-R₂₉-Lys(-His-R₃₀-Ala-Gly)-Y:

wherein R₂₄ is either Gly or absent; R₂₅, is either Thr or Ser; R₂₆ is an amino acid residue selected from Gly, Ser and Asn; R₂₇ and R₂₈ are each independently either Asn or Ser; R₂₉ is an amino acid residue selected from Met, Leu and Phe; R₃₀ is either Val or Met; one or more residues within parenthesis may be present or absent with the proviso that if they are present they are attached to the rest of the peptide in sequence; and X and Y may each independently be absent or independently be one or more additional amino acid residues, with the proviso that when present neither X nor Y provide or form part of an antigenic property of the prion protein which, in the corresponding portion of sequence of a natural prion protein, is contiguous with the sequence to which X and Y are attached.
 2. An isolated polyclonal antibody as claimed in claim 1, that specifically binds to a synthetic polypeptide selected from: SEQ. I.D. No: 25 X-(Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp)-Gly-Gln-Gly-Gly-Thr-His-Gly- Gln-TrpAsn-Lys-Pro-Ser-Lys-Pro-Lys-Thr-Asn-Met- Lys (-His-Val-Ala-Gly)-Y; SEQ. I.D. No: 28 X-(Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp)-Gly-Gln-Gly-Gly-Ser-His-Ser- Gln-Trp-Asn-Lys-Pro-Ser-Lys-Pro-Lys-Thr-Asn-Met- Lys(-His-Val-Ala-Gly)-Y; and SEQ. I.D. No: 31 X-(Gly-Gly-Gly-Trp)-Gly-Gln-Gly-Gly-Gly-Thr-His- Ser-Gln-Trp-Asn-Lys-Pro-Ser-Lys-Pro-Lys-Thr-Asn- Met-Lys(-His-Met-Ala-Gly)-Y.


3. An isolated polyclonal antibody as claimed in claim 1 that specifically binds to the synthetic polypeptide SEQ. I.D. No: 47 Gly-Gln-Gly-Gly-Ser-His-Ser-Gln-Trp-Asn-Lys-Pro-Ser-Lys-Pro-Lys-Thr-Asn-Met-Lys-His-Val-Gly-Cys.
 4. An isolated polyclonal antibody as claimed in claim 1, that specifically binds to a synthetic polypeptide of formula Vc wherein R₂₆ is Ser, R₂₈ is Asn and R₂₉ is Met.
 5. An isolated polyclonal antibody as claimed in claim 1, that specifically binds to a synthetic polypeptide of formula Vc wherein X and Y if present each comprises 1 to 3 amino acid residues.
 6. An isolated polyclonal antibody as claimed in claim 1, that specifically binds to a synthetic polypeptide of formula Vc wherein X is absent and Y comprises 1 or 2 amino acid residues.
 7. An isolated polyclonal antibody as claimed in claim 6, that specifically binds to a synthetic polypeptide of formula Vc wherein Y is Cys or Gly-Cys.
 8. A kit for detecting prion proteins which contains a polyclonal antibody as claimed in claim
 1. 9. A process for the manufacture of a polyclonal antibody as claimed in claim 1, the process comprising immunizing a non-human mammal with said polypeptide and isolating the antibody. 